Agenda item

From the meeting of Cabinet held on 3 January 2017

Further to Minute 84 of the Cabinet, the City Council considered a report of the Executive Director of Place, which set out the proposed response on behalf of the Council to Rugby Borough Council’s new Local Plan – Publication Draft.

Rugby Borough Council (RBC) published their Local Plan for a period of representations on 26^th September 2016, which ran for 6 weeks until 11^th November 2016, in accordance with national Regulations relating to the submission of Local Plans.  The Local Plan set out the intended development proposals for Rugby Borough to 2031 and, subject to the received representations, RBC intended to submit the Plans to the Secretary of State in early 2017.

Given the timescales involved, officers had submitted an officer representation to RBC to ensure that initial comments were provided.  This representation was attached to the report as Appendix 1 and presented for endorsement or comment.

RBC subsequently opted to re-run their consultation process, recommencing on 30^th November 2016 until the 11^th January 2017.  Whilst the officer response had already been provided within the original timescales, it was recommended that the response remain unchanged.

The response had been prepared on behalf of the Council in its role as Local Planning Authority as Coventry’s response to RBC at this important stage of its plan’s development.  The response indicated that the Council supported the Local Plan being proposed by RBC but, for reasons indicated in the report, made comments and sough clarification in relation to the following key areas:

·  The RBC Local Plan identified the sites at Pro-Logis Ryton and Ansty Park as strategic employment sites and supported their completion within the Plan period (2011-2031). This reflected the Employment Land Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) endorsed by the Council in October 2016.

·  The RBC Local Plan identified sites for approximately 2,800 homes towards Coventry’s unmet housing needs. This was in addition to the Borough Council planning positively for its own Objectively Assessed Needs.

·  The RBC Local Plan applied a development strategy and settlement hierarchy that focused growth on Rugby town, supported by a series of small developments around its satellite villages and a new town at Lodge Farm (southeast of Rugby). The RBC Local Plan did not consider the edge of Coventry within its settlement hierarchy and made no residential development proposals on the city’s eastern boundary – although this had been proposed in the previous version of the Plan.

·  The reasons for excluding the proposed development on the city’s eastern boundary (at Walsgrave Hill Farm south of Ansty Park) remain unclear.

·  A small area of land at Junction 2 of the M6 was proposed to be removed from existing Green Belt designation. This land was not proposed for any development however and reflected the fact the land in question was heavily influenced by highway infrastructure and did not support the purposes of Green Belt policy.

RESOLVED that the City Council endorse the officer representation to Rugby Borough Council’s New Local Plan – Publication Draft as set out at Appendix 1 of the report.